Martha's Example in Stay at Home Days

Martha’s Example in Stay at Home Days

Martha welcomed Jesus and invited him to her home. (Luke 10:38-42) 

It was her home. Scripture tells us that Martha had siblings, but there is no mention of a spouse or children. There is no genealogy given. There is a hint in another account that Martha may have worked as a cook, but that is not used as a primary identifier. Luke makes it clear. Martha opened her home to this itinerant teacher who, unlike the foxes and the birds, had “no place to lay his head.”

When Jesus entered her home, he began to teach. He wasn’t there just to mingle, to be entertained, to rest, or to eat. He was there to teach, and Mary took advantage of the teaching. She sat down, at his feet and listened. She didn’t hide out at the back of the room, she didn’t just sort of half listen as she cooked the lentils, no, she got as close as possible, smack dab in the middle of the very front row and made herself a student of the teacher.

Martha was not happy. She knew Mary was supposed to be a proper woman, helping to prepare the meal, not mingling with the men, and absolutely not taking the best place.  So, she acted just like any other big sister, she called Mary out, and she did it in front of the guest of honor. She was trying to shame Mary away from Christ.

It did not work. Mary stayed right where she wanted to be. She had made her choice, and Christ validated it. Please note, he did not chide Martha for her choice of service, but he did call Mary’s choice the better one.

Martha and Mary called for Christ’s assistance in time of trouble and welcomed his company in time of grief. (John 11:1 – 43) 

You know the story. Lazarus falls seriously ill. The sisters send word to Jesus, asking for him to come. Jesus receives their plea and seems to ignore it until it is too late to intervene and prevent their brother’s death. When he does show up, Martha chides him for his delay. Jesus offers what sounds like a cliché comfort and ties it to a conversation about Martha’s faith. Martha, through her tears, acknowledges that she believes in life after death, but she is still crying, still sad. Jesus gets more explicit and declares himself to be The Christ and asks if she believes this. Her response is a creed, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” Then she gets her sister and brings her to Jesus so that he may also comfort her. Together they see their brother raised again. Together they hear the instructions to “take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

There is another feast at which Martha chose to serve Jesus with her labors. You will find that account in John 12:1-8. 

Martha’s gift is accepted without negative comment, but Mary’s gift of praise, anointing Jesus’ feet with nard, is criticized. Again, Christ came her to defense. 

What can we learn, which examples can we follow?

1. Be like Martha, open your home to Christ and expect him to show up. This is not another version of the ‘I can worship anywhere’ excuse for not attending corporate worship. Rather, it is establishing the practice of keeping Christ in the most intimate parts of your life, the place where you live, into the thoughts you hold privately, and making him a part of the company you keep.
2. Welcome Christ when he comes, and spend time with him. When you have invited him, do not seat him comfortably in the best room and then leave him alone while you go off to take care of other tasks. To be blunt, if you invite Christ home by accepting a devotional booklet, hymn book, or Bible, do not just place that word of God on the coffee table or book shelf and leave it there. Open it, read, learn, and inwardly digest it. Live it. If, today, during this time of social distancing, you invite Christ in by clicking onto live streaming or other electronic means, do not just shift to another screen and check your email or play a game, stay at Jesus’ feet and listen, learn, visit with him, be with him. 
3. If you have chosen to honor him with service, do so gladly, without resentment, and extend that service beyond just the time spent welcoming or visiting with him. 
4. Fear or grief are reasons to want Christ in your home and in your life. The sisters invite Christ and chide him for what they see as a less than adequate response to their request. Today we pray fervently for a miracle resolution of the pandemic. It seems like God is taking his own sweet time about answering our prayer. Still, when he did come, they shared their very raw grief and pain. They took him to the grave. They wept with him and he wept with them. It wasn’t a magic “Jesus is here and loves you and now everything is suddenly wonderful” sort of thing. They had to open the grave. They had to smell the stench of necrotic tissue. They were not allowed to withdraw from the pain. Martha had work to do. She had to bring her sister to Jesus. Our work also involves sharing Jesus with others who share our grief and or fear. 
5. If, today, during this time of social distancing, you have invited Christ in, if you are moved to honor Christ with service, praise, or a gift of a tithe, do so with joy and love. Do not worry if your voice is weak or your gift is small. (Remember the story of The Widow’s Mite – Mark 12:38-44.) Christ accepts your gift. No loving parent refuses the hugs of a young child or the child’s handmade card. Because the parent loves the child, the gift is valued. Because God loves you, your gift, your repentance, your love is accepted.                                   

Thanks to Journeys of Faith Contributing Writer-

Natalie Hartwig for this reflection.